A contract has been awarded to rebuild the Sprout Kitchen Food Hub that was destroyed by fire in Quesnel.
City Council unanimously approved a contract worth just over 2.4 million dollars to Fresno Construction Limited out of Quesnel.
The total budget is for 3 million dollars.
Jeff Norburn, the Director of Community Services, explained the difference at Tuesday (October 6) night’s meeting.
“At the time of the fire the city was in the process of planning a renovation of the building to expand and enhance the operation of Sprout Kitchen. The city had secured grant funding of approximately $585,000 for that project, and that grant has since been extended to March, 2028.”
Fire destroyed the building, located at 101 Marsh Drive, back On May 5, 2025.
The project will be fully funded through insurance and grants, with the possible exception of fire suppression
Norburn said the insurance claim will also cover costs such as demolition, consulting fees, replacement of the mural that was on the exterior of the building, and equipment replacement.
He said the project will be fully funded through insurance and grants, with the possible exception of fire mitigation.
“The city has not allocated any funds towards this project. Should funding be required for fire mitigation measures, staff will bring forward a request for funding through the 2027 capital budget process for Council consideration.”
Councillor Mitch Vik asked if fire mitigation involved sprinkler systems or another less costly form of fire suppression.
Norburn said “I think what we’re looking at mostly is to keep people back from the back of the building. There is fencing there now so we’ll look at options with additional fencing. The building inspector also did recommend some upgrades to building materials to make them more fire resistant.”
He went on to say that some of those may be covered under the grant.
Councillor Debra McKelvie was pleased that a local contractor was hired to do the work and asked if the plans included a loading bay and deck.
Norburn noted that the plan was for the same footprint so there would be no change to the square footage of the building and that there would be no change to the loading dock area that was there before.
Finally, Councillor Martin Runge asked about the timeline.
Norburn said that the company anticipates getting started quickly in the fall, and the goal is to finish the project before winter in 2027.
